Beating the Devil at Its Game - Overcoming Procrastination as an Entrepreneur
All of us procrastinate at some point or other in our work and life. Even the most successful entrepreneurs struggle with keeping to their schedules. It's definitely not deliberate, but a deadline always sounds quite far away until it looms large in front of us! Though procrastination is often brushed off nonchalantly, it can indeed turn into a grim problem that can derail your business. Successful entrepreneurs learn to beat it with smart, practical strategies and with some valuable pointers from your business mentors. But as a bonus, let's check out a few tips that can help you in overcoming procrastination and increasing your productivity and focus -
Be accountable Accountability can really help you stay focused and on task, thus defeating procrastination. But then, accountability is at the core of entrepreneurship, right? So how can you make sure that you follow through? Creating a to-do list and keeping tabs on how you spend your time can help you stay on your toes. Many brilliant apps can do the job for you from Trello to the trustworthy Evernote. If you find it difficult to stay accountable to yourself, you might have more success staying accountable to others. Have an accountability partner or a business coach with whom you share your goals and progress on a regular basis. Your coach can remind you to stay on track when you get distracted.
Plan ahead Planning is an important factor in ensuring success. If you get to your work without having a clear idea of what to do and where to start, it can lead you to work on unimportant tasks or other forms of procrastinating. Take the time to split your work into micro-tasks that can be easily accomplished. Assign time for working on specific tasks and activities on your list and organize them in the order of priority. So when you start your workday, you know exactly what you need to work on and which work has the highest priority. Before working on a task, try to also consider the potential obstacles that might distract you and create a plan to keep them at bay. Of course, remember to create realistic deadlines that can be met.
Deadlines and Rewards Once you have prioritized your work, you should set up personal deadlines that are stricter than the actual deadlines, pushing yourself to finish the task quickly. The time you save can then be used to double-check or improve on the task. Make sure you keep it realistic, allotting time for things like coffee breaks, catching up with colleagues or checking personal emails. Positivity and small rewards also go a long way in helping beat procrastination. Alternatively, build in a punishment system or register on motivational sites which help close the gaps between goals and achieving them.
Remove distractions Distractions are all around the workspace: smart phones, internet, meetings, and people can all divert your focus, ruining your productivity. Checking your inbox or social media often can be signs of procrastination. Log out of your social media accounts for a few hours every day and focus only on the work at hand. There are many apps and tools that track your social media or news sites usage and alert you if you spend more than the required time. Noise-cancelling headphones, pausing your email notifications, and using a program or browser add-on to avoid internet distractions are all methods to focus on the task.
With self-awareness, effort, and will power, even the most determined procrastinators can turn into highly productive individuals. Incorporating a few of the above methods in your day-to-day work routine can put you on the path to beating procrastination and ushering in success as an individual, and for your company.
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